South London dad slams Lewisham Homes after flea infestation

Danny Afzal alleged that the firm running Lewisham Council’s social housing recently billed his landlord almost £7,000 for “shoddy” works, on top of an annual £1,200 service charge.

He said the bills arrived after the firm, Lewisham Homes, took almost a year to deal with the building’s flea infestation, then claimed the pests were actually fruit flies.

He had to see an expert doctor privately, who wrote a report – seen by the News Shopper – confirming he is covered in flea bite scars.

Danny said his whole family were similarly bitten.

Danny said he and his family had been bitten by fleas (Image: Danny Afzal)

“You couldn’t get in or out of the front door without being covered in flea bites,” he said.

“I complained so many times to staff. I was burning them with my lighter to get them off of me. The kids are still traumatised about it. My son is ashamed to wear shorts. He was bitten from head to toe.

“I’m paying in my service charge for maintenance. What am I paying for?”

He said his landlord has also been billed for windows that broke after two years and roof repairs which caused a leak through his ceiling.

“Like a pigsty”

Danny has privately rented his Lewisham Park flat for 12 years.

Lewisham Council owns the freehold. The block is managed by Lewisham Homes, which imposes an annual service charge, which Danny pays.

In 2022/3, the charge was £1,248.94, for services including “caretaking”, “pest control” and “grounds maintenance”.

Danny has privately rented his flat in Lewisham Park, a short walk from Ladywell train station, for 12 years (Image: Charles Thomson)

But Danny said the flea infestation lasted eight months before pest controllers were called in.

Meanwhile, he said, there was no other meaningful intervention.

“They didn’t hoover this block for six years,” he said. “The guy who comes here only sweeps.”

He claimed the grounds were full of rubbish and had become a magnet for antisocial behaviour.

A green area in the rear car park, accessed from Harvard Road, has had wooden crates dumped all over it.

Danny said his landlord had just received a bill for the installation of new windows as part of a 'major works' project two years ago - but claimed several of the windows have already blown (Image: Charles Thomson)

In bygone years, his children used to catalogue butterflies there for the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) website. Now, he said, it is “like a pigsty”.

“It’s been destroyed,” he said. “People that don’t live here come in the car park, sniffing gas and smoking weed. I’m questioning what I’m paying for. It’s ludicrous.

“Someone has tried to steal my motorbike twice. There have been stabbings in the car park. Nothing is being done.”

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• Three stabbed in Lewisham car park incident
  Danny said a green area in the rear car park, accessed by Harvard Road, had been 'destroyed' (Image: Charles Thomson)

“Major works”

In April, on top of the service charge, Lewisham Homes sent Danny's landlord a £6,731.54 bill - seen by the News Shopper - for “major works” on the block in recent years.

Danny said those works included replacing windows in his flat, which have blown after just two years, and works to the roof.

“After they did the roof, our bedroom ceiling started leaking,” he said.

There was a £4,246.29 charge, shared between the six flats in the block, for “decoration works”.

A bill sent to Danny's landlord included more than £4,000 for block 'decoration' works, but Danny said the only decoration done was covering bannisters and window frames in the stairwell in white paint - and the work was done messily (Image: Charles Thomson)

According to Danny, those works consisted solely of repainting the bannisters and window frames in the stairwell.

“How can it cost £4,000 to paint a stairwell?” he asked.

The overall works were “shoddy” as well, he added, with paint flicked onto the walls.

“This needs an explanation,” he said. “Lewisham Council has paid Lewisham Homes millions of pounds over the years. Someone is making a mint.”

Danny Afzal described Lewisham Homes's charges as 'ludicrous', saying it had delivered shoddy works and poor services (Image: Charles Thomson)

Response

Lewisham Council set up Lewisham Homes in 2007.

But in November, the News Shopper reported that the council was taking back control of its 19,000 properties, due to “very serious concerns” about how Lewisham Homes dealt with repairs.

The council said this month that the takeover should be completed by October 2023.

It declined to comment on Danny’s case.

Lewisham Homes said it was “sorry” to hear of Danny’s concerns and was “investigating the issues he has raised”.